The Tucson City Council voted Tuesday to allow the zoning process to move forward on a controversial grocery store.
By a 6-1 vote, the council allowed Brentwood Development to continue with the zoning process for a Fry’s grocery store, despite the fact it would exceed height requirements in a 30-year-old agreement between residents of the area near South Houghton Road and East 22nd Street.
Councilman Steve Kozachik cast the lone “nay” vote.
The proposed development exceeds the 20-foot height limit included in the Houghton East Neighborhood Plan, approved when the city annexed the area. The developer of the 124,000-foot store wants the rules changed to allow a 26-foot height, with four-foot parapets.
More than 100 people showed up for the council meeting, with Mayor Jonathan Rothschild tallying 38 speaker cards handed in by people supporting the proposal and 17 speaker cards for those opposing.
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The building needs the extra six feet to accommodate the mezzanine office and training area, which are “very important to the internal working of that site,” said Keri Silvyn, a land-use lawyer speaking on behalf of Brentwood Development. Linda Morales of The Planning Center, which is working with the developer, said the lot is the only suitable lot in the area.
Fred Yamashita of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said the store would bring in “good jobs, secure jobs.”
“These are the kinds of jobs that are economic drivers,” Yamashita said.
Linda Schaub, of the coalition to Save Houghton East, asked the council: “What good is having a big-box ordinance if the city is going to keep making exceptions?”
The six-foot variance “appears trivial,” she said, but the increase dramatically augments the building’s visibility, a thought echoed by Darla Sidles, superintendent of nearby Saguaro National Park.
The proposed store is “not in scale” of the surrounding area and would bring in more vehicle traffic, Schaub said, calling that a “direct and egregious violation” of the plan. “It is totally inappropriate.”
David Porzio has lived about 400 yards from the proposed development for 20 years. He said the property owners, developers and the city will benefit from the development, but he had his house appraised twice last year and the value dropped by $20,000. “The appraiser said it was the result of the big box development coming in,” he said.
Stephen Shell lives near the proposed development and wants a “more high-end grocery store” in the neighborhood.
“Right now, I’m strongly in favor of removing the six-foot height restriction,” he said. The requirement isn’t applicable to other nearby properties and amounts to an “undue hardship” on the store’s developers, he said.
Shell is chairman of the Board of Adjustment for the city. “I can see they’re not asking for the world,” he said of the developers.
Councilman Paul Cunningham noted the large number of speakers at the meeting who supported the project. He also understood how people could object from the perspective of the national park.
Cunningham made a motion to allow the developers to continue the zoning process with the additional six feet, but cautioned the developers not to exceed 30 feet, including parapets.
“It’s not anywhere close to a done deal,” Cunningham told the developers.
Councilwoman Shirley Scott seconded the motion, noting the importance of the jobs that would come from the $30 million investment.
In addition, people already live near the park, and “this property is already well outside the one-mile buffer zone,” she said.
Kozachik said it would be “disingenuous” to approve the additional six feet and then deny the final zoning request months from now. Pointing to issues of drainage, proximity to the park, and other issues, he said he would not approve the developers’ request.
Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said the city promised to balance the “economic truth” of more jobs against “what could be an environmental impact.” She questioned why the developers had to use that specific site, but said she would support Cunningham’s motion.
Councilwoman Regina Romero said she plans to “look carefully” at issues of open space, but noted Houghton Road is “already very highly developed.”
